It
took nearly a decade, but finally a LeRoy football player has managed
to tackle Mike Hart. Hart, the nation's most prolific scoring scholastic
player of all time, is the player who broke LeRoy fans' hearts in the
2002 state Class C semifinals at the Carrier Dome when his incredible
64-yard run through the LeRoy defense ("The Run" as it is known
on YouTube.com) propelled his Onondaga Tigers to a last minute 13-10 over
the Knights and onto another state team title.

Hart went on to become a college gridiron star as well. He currently is
the all-time career leading rusher for the legendary University of Michigan
Wolverines football program. Mike is currently with the Indianapolis Colts
in the NFL, playing with the likes of Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl.

LeRoy special teams Coach Jim Bonacquisti attended a Rochester area football
show at which Hart was the main attraction. Coach B was able
to have a nice talk with the friendly Hart and even managed to get him
to willfully don a LeRoy Football cap in the pic above. Jim reassured
me that Mike is a class act who fully remembers the tough game with the
Knights. Here's wishing Mike a very long tenure playing with the very
best gridiron stars in the NFL.

LeRoy
alumni meet MMA legend Georges St-Pierre

LeRoy
grads Joe Loftus ('97) and Brian Steffenilla ('95) recently received
the thrill of a lifetime when they ventured north over into Canada to
attend a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) event in Montreal. There
to celebrate Joe's 30th birthday and their love of martial arts, Joe
and Brian decided to get a workout in at the local Canadian martial
arts gym of UFC star Georges "Rush" St-Pierre.

St-Pierre is the current 2-time welterweight (170 lbs) champion of the
UFC. He is one of Canada's most popular athletes and is unbeaten in
the last 4 years in the UFC Octagon, winning 10 straight UFC fights
since a stunning upset loss to Matt Serra in early 2007. The 30-year
old St-Pierre is an excellent wrestler who regularly trains with the
Canadian National Wrestling Team. Once he has you down on the ground,
he is a master of submissions as he works you over with his ground-and-pound
style.

The gym's manager arranged the impromptu meeting for Joe and Brian with
the UFC champ and lucky enough a digital camera was available to capture
the special moment. The classy elite fighter provided these two LeRoyans
an inspirational moment neither is ever likely to forget.

On Friday
October 8th the LeRoy Knights honored former head coach Don Santini.
"Coach" was the LeRoy head football coach from 1966 through
1974. During that time, he amassed a record of 57-15-2. It is important
to note that during his tenure there were no sectional games, with most
seasons consisting of eight regular season games. Prior to Santini coming
to LeRoy, the Knights had compiled a record of 15 wins and 38 losses over
a seven year period. Santini's first team in 1966 was led by Captains
Jimmy Rudgers and Bob Lowe, and completed a perfect 8-and-0 season. That
season would mark the revitalization of the Knights' program, the building
block of future perennial powers. It
was Santini's initiative to change the helmets from white to their current
color of black in 1970. Santini's teams at LeRoy were always characterized
as hard hitting and tough. His disciplined teams helped mold the LeRoy
football player, both past and present. Coach Santini is still held in
the highest regards among current players, some 35 years after his departure
from LeRoy.

Santini left LeRoy in 1975 to teach and coach at his alma mater Fairport
High School. Like his arrival at LeRoy, Fairport's football program too
had experienced some difficult times. After two seasons, Santini led the
Red Raiders to a Section V Championship in 1977. During his time at Fairport,
Santini would lead Fairport to six more Section V titles, and one State
Championship. He was named Monroe County Coach of the Year 5 times and
Kodak Eastern Region Coach of the Year once. His final record at Fairport
was 149-29-5 and 206-44-7 overall combined with LeRoy. He also coached
the Eddie Meath All Star game 5 times.

In 1993, Santini was awarded the Wolfe Coaching Award. The award was given
in recognition of his winning record and dedication to the direction and
leadership of young athletes. In 1999, Don was elected to the Section
V Football Hall of Fame. Since leaving the coaching profession, Santini
has been a prominent member of both the New York State football and Section
V committees. It was Santini's proposal that got the inaugural New York
State football game between upstate and downstate seniors this past summer.
In addition, Santini is also a member of the Brockport State Football
Hall of Fame.

Don currently resides in Fairport with his wife of 47 years, Pat. They
have 3 children, Pam, Tom, and Mike, along with 4 grandchildren. Don had
the great pleasure of coaching both of his boys during his tenure at Fairport.

The LeRoy Football Community welcomed home Coach Don Santini on October
8th and honored him with a permanent plaque that is placed in the north
end zone. Don joins former Head Coach Frank Ruane as the first 2 recipients
of this great honor. Thank you
so much Coach Santini.

On
Friday, September 4th the LeRoy Football Community will be honoring
former Head Coach Frank Ruane.
The celebration will take place in a pre-game ceremony prior to the
2009 season opener versus Livonia. A permanent marker will be placed
in the garden located in the north end zone. All of his former players
are invited to join us on the field for the ceremony.

Coach Ruane
passed away this past February (2009) at the age of 88. During his tenure
at LeRoy (1975-1983), Frank compiled a record of 53-25-2. He led two
of his teams (1980, 1982) to the Section V Finals. It is important to
note that sectional play did not start until 1978. Through 1981, only
two teams from each class (only 3 classes at that time) qualified for
sectional play (total of six teams in Section V).

Coach Ruane
will always be beloved by his former players as a man of integrity and
class. He taught us life lessons that many of us didnt realize
until we were adults. His old school mentality didnt
always make sense to us when we were young, but now we all can deeply
respect those values.

While at
LeRoy, Frank was also the basketball coach and athletic director. His
1980 team finished with a record of 19-1. His 1981 and 1982 teams made
it to the sectional finals.

In 1984
LeRoy won its first Section V Football Championship. Many of the key
players on that squad were players Frank had groomed the previous two
seasons. Some years later Coach Ruane was asked why he retired when
he did, knowing how strong a team was in place for the 1984 season.
Frank knew how the LeRoy community held their football in high regards;
he wanted to make sure his replacement got started off on the right
path. For those who knew Coach well, that response was so typical of
his character, high regard for others and little need for self acclaim.

Prior to
coming to LeRoy, Frank had coaching stints in Peru, Carthage, and Plattsburgh,
New York. He also coached in Caledonia before coming to LeRoy. While
at Caledonia (1968-1974), his football teams were 38-17-1. His Red Raider
teams shut LeRoy out four straight years (1968, 69, 70, 71).

Frank was
born and raised in Ithaca, New York. He was headed to the University
of Notre Dame on a football scholarship after graduating from high school.
His plans at South Bend were derailed when he was drafted into the Army
during World War II.

After the
war he returned to Ithaca where he attended and graduated from Ithaca
College. Frank made Ithaca after his permanent home after retiring from
LeRoy in 1984.

An avid
sports fan, Frank spent most of his weekends in the fall attending Ithaca
and University of Notre Dame football games. He was also a long time
season ticket holder for the Buffalo Bills. In addition, Coach took
the time to attend many of his former players college football
and basketball games. Although he had no children of his own, Coach
Ruane viewed his former athletes as his boys and took great pride in
their accomplishments.

Frank
took great enjoyment watching his nieces and nephews participate in
sporting events around the Ithaca area. He also enjoyed golfing. During
his lifetime, Coach Ruane golfed on all of the courses of the British
Open. This is something he was very proud of.

This ceremony
is long over due. I only wished we could have honored Coach Ruane while
he was still with us. I really hope many of his former players can come
out on September 4th to show our deep thanks to such a fine man.

The
event - the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park
on Long Island (June 7, 2008). The goal - meet at former LR
football star Joe Shaughnessy's place on the upper east side
of Manhattan, take a train out to the Park, and perhaps witness
a Triple Crown clinching win by Big Brown, a horse that had
snared impressive wins at both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
The 6 attendees, Andrew and Sean Williamson, Ryan Child, along
with LR alumni Reid Whiting, Matt Weinman, and Joe Shaughnessy,
decided to each select a horse in the race. Reid and Andrew
decided to combo a $30 wager on the entrant Da'Tara who went
off at staggering 39:1 odds. There were 1170 reasons why this
pick was a great one. That's how many dollars Reid and Andrew
won when Da'Tara stunned the horse racing world with a wire
to wire win as Big Brown astonishly finished dead last in the
field, a first for any Triple Crown hopeful.

After
the exciting race, what better way to take in the night than
to purchase shirts and cigars and of course, inform all of those
around the world of the windfall. The 6 took to the actual ESPN
broadcast booth at the site and reported the group's good fortune
to all watching around the world (well, maybe the cameras were
not actually powered on). ESPN funnyman anchor Kenny Mayne met
up with the group and gave his seal of approval to the day's
proceedings!
The day ended with a train ride back to Manhattan, but of course,
the night was young for these gents.

NOTE: Weinman, Andrew Williamson and Ryan Child were frat brothers
at SigmaChi at West Virginia University. Andrew also made it
to the LeRoy Oatka Festival about a month after the Belmont
and found downtown LeRoy to be very similar to the Manhattan
skyline! Sean Williamson is Andrew's older brother who went
to the University of Florida.

Coach,
Friend, Cornerstone of our Football Family, and a Great Example of
Class, Strength, and Dignity.
Oh, how we will miss you Hooks, we will greatly miss you. Thanks for
teaching us about the much greater game of life.